2025 Community Leadership Awards
Building Health and Wealth Together
Join HANDS on January 30th, 2025 to celebrate local leadership shaping the future of a thriving Orange!
This Year We Will Honor:
State Senator Britnee Timberlake
Ben Hersey of My Abode NJ
Jarteau Israel of LANBI Center
Jay Savulich of Rising Tide Capital
Join us at Inner City Cafe from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on Thursday, January 30, 2025 for sips, snacks, and celebration - but that’s not all! We’ll spend that entire week (January 27 - January 31) sharing stories and highlighting investments, connections, and possibilities in Greater Orange. We will also screen the awards live online for those who want to join from home.
Check out the 2024 Community Leadership Awards on our blog to learn more about the event and how we will celebrate local leadership in Greater Orange!
Special Thanks to Our Sponsors:
Community Builder:
Become a Sponsor!
As a sponsor for the HANDS Community Leadership Award, you celebrate the leaders making an impact and invest in our work to transform Greater Orange through healthy and affordable housing, economic opportunities, and community engagement.
Learn more about Corporate and Local Business sponsorship and/or reach out to development@handsinc.org.
2022 Community Leadership Awards: Owning Our Future
JOIN US FOR OUR ANNUAL COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARDS. MORE INFORMATION WILL FOLLOW.
Check out past events below!
Entrepreneur Day Open House
On June 1st, 2024, HANDS, Orange Public Schools, Rising Tide Capital, and Athletic Arts Academy came together for an afternoon celebrating entrepreneurship in Greater Orange.
As part of NeighborWorks America Week, HANDS organized an open house to learn from and connect with local business owners. Participants enjoyed a mindfulness exercise, food from a local restaurant, and an entrepreneurship panel featuring local business owners. To recognize and honor Orange’s thriving business community, the mayor’s office also declared June 1st Entrepreneur Day.
A special thanks to our moderator and panelists:
Jay Savulich at Rising Tide Capital
Coach Iya at Athletic Arts Academy
Natasha Frazer at Hello Gorgeous
Daniel Collins at Collins Professional Sora LLC
Fatimah Turner at Inner City Cafe
2024 Community Leadership Awards: A Legacy of Connection
On February 1, 2024, HANDS was joined by community members, sponsors, local business leaders, friends and family, to celebrate local leadership that connects and uplifts our community.
Watch the event’s livestream below!
2022 Community Leadership Awards: Owning Our Future
HANDS’ 2022 Community Leadership Awards: Owning Our Future honored those who stepped up to address challenges and opportunities in an ever-changing economic and social landscape and in shaping the direction of their community.
Felicia Stokes, of Luxurious Wellniss, is an innovative local entrepreneur and HANDS tenant who was honored for bringing inclusive health and wellness initiatives to the local community.
UHL ARCHITECTURE
FELICIA STOKES
Joshua Uhl and Christian Uhl are Principals of Uhl Architecture, a multidisciplinary firm interested in the everyday aspects of our contemporary condition that make architecture engaging and enjoyable.
Winsome Wynter, an engaged community volunteer and Heart of Orange neighborhood advocate, is being honored for her efforts to engage youth on financial education, for being a Heart of Orange Neighborhood planning participant, an advocate for quality community services in the Heart of Orange, and a volunteer of HANDS’ Financial Capabilities Program.
WINSOME WYNTER
Friends of Metcalf Park is a community organization of dedicated volunteers being honored for gathering community and creating meaningful programming in Metcalf Park, one of the few municipal parks in Orange, NJ.
FRIENDS OF METCALF PARK
Sharee Harrison is a dedicated community leader being honored for being an engaged volunteer and consulting community organizer for HANDS and HUUB initiatives – specifically engaging community in Heart of Orange Planning process.
SHAREE HARRISON